Sparklings 1: Mirage
by Raxas Dyme
Summary: After an argument with Jazz, Mirage left the base in a huff. Starscream left the base to try out a new cannon he had been working on. Mirage got caught in the crossfire. What is a mech to do with the result? Why, let the Autobots deal with it all!
1. Priorities

Hiya! Now, I've read plenty of Transformers-turned-sparkling stories, and it struck something in me. It's always fragging Optimus, or Ironhide, or someone important to the gang. On ONE occasion was it actually MIRAGE the one who turned into a sparkling. My favourite guy is Mirage. So, I decided that I was going to write a series of stories based on the whole premise of Transformers-turned-sparkling stories. Book One, is Mirage.

Reason: Weapon Malfunction

* * *

**Sparklings 1: Mirage**

**Chapter One: Priorities**

* * *

Starscream groaned. Now what was he supposed to do? All he wanted was to just test out his new toy- a photon cannon- and then that stupid Autobutt got in the way. He couldn't let Megatron find out about this, because the photon cannon ended up not even harming the AutoBot, but relatively... affected him in some strange new way.

He then knew what to do with it.

- - - -

After much testing, he found out the important details. He wrote it down on a data pad, and then he got ready to leave. Placing the important part of the package in his cockpit before taking off, he inwardly groaned as he headed towards the Ark. The package would move unexpectedly, or suck on something. Starscream couldn't wait to get rid of this thing.

As soon as he arrived, Starscream thanked Primus the trip was over. He transformed, carefully held the package, and subspaced the datapad. He placed the bundle on the ground and the datapad next to it, then dashed off before any AutoBot could see him.

Hopefully... Megatron wouldn't ask.

- - - -

Jazz was not in a good mood. No siree. Only just this morning, he had an argument with that stuck-up rich bot who probably got pampered. Mirage and him? Sure, they could got along... most of the time... but still! That didn't mean they agreed on everything.

Today's argument, he didn't even remember. As far as he was concerned, it was probably over Iacon, since Mirage hadn't shown his face yet. He had just asked Optimus if he could head out to search for him - since he was the main reason the stuck-up rich bot had left - and to go apologize. Optimus had agreed, mainly because the argument happened in the morning... and it was now almost midnight.

So now, Jazz was here, heading through the hallways towards the entrance of the base. He had passed by Hound, who confirmed the argument was about Iacon.

"Hey Hound, this question may sound a little stupid... but was that argument me and Mirage had this morning about Iacon?"

"That's right, Jazz. I remember that argument like it happened only a nanosecond ago. You said that Iacon was just a base to you. You said this because Mirage stated he couldn't wait to go back. You said you preferred Earth."

"Primus... so that must have hit him hard, then, huh?"

"Probably! He stormed out of the Rec Room. According to Red, you were the last mech to see him. He's got no idea where Mirage went."

By Prowl, who he told why he was leaving,

"Where are you going, Jazz?"

"Going to go and find Mirage, who's been missing all day! You see, we had a slight disagreement on the state of bases and planets. Mirage just took it all personally."

Ad by Cliffjumper, who decided to say that he didn't care whether or not Mirage was found. Jazz just called the minicon an idiot.

"Don't care what happens to the guy. Mirage is a traitor. Deal with it."

"Idiot." THWACK!

"OW!"

As soon as he left the base, Jazz had missed the whimpering little package on the ground. In fact... he almost tripped on it.

"What the-?" Jazz looked behind him, and then quickly rubbed his visor to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Before him, wrapped in a little blue blanket, was a little blue and white sparkling with gold optics. "Mirage?"

The sparkling looked at him, whimpering. A little sniffle was his response.

Jazz instinctively picked up the sparkling Mirage, and listened to his little whimpers as he picked up the datapad that had fallen. "What happened to you...?" He quickly read it, not quite believe it.

"Starscream actually cares for your well-being...?"

Mirage only hiccuped.

Jazz sighed and shook his head. "This is all my fault... well... Let's get you the 'Hatchet!" Jazz stood up, and walked back in. He held the wrapped up Mirage close as he walked by Cliffjumper, now on the ground holding his head, and stopped by Prowl, who had lifted a single optic ridge.

"That was fast. Did you find him?"

Jazz nodded. "You're not going to like it... and neither is Ratchet..." He quickly held the bundle that was Mirage even closer.

Prowl's optic ridge raised even higher in question. "He didn't get himself killed, did he? According to information that Hound told us... the last time any mech or femme saw Mirage actually _consume_ Energon in the rec room... was little more than three weeks ago. After that, he just stopped."

"No, no... it's nothing like that..." Jazz assured, now understanding why the little sparkling Mirage was whimpering. "You see... Starscream has this photon cannon... and he... wanted to test it out on this rock... right? Well, anyways... Mirage kinda... sorta... got in the way..."

Prowl was looking terrified. "He got shot with a photon cannon?! Then, that means he's dead!"

"Good!" chimed Cliffjumper's voice from nowhere.

Jazz growled and turned towards the body of Cliffjumper, still on the ground. "Shut UP, Cliffjumper!" He quickly turned back towards Prowl, and shook his free hand wildly. "No, no, no, no, no, no! He didn't! He's perfectly fine!"

"This is a PHOTON CANNON we're speaking of, here, Jazz!" Prowl argued. "If Mirage got shot with one, then he's better off dead."

Jazz's free hand rubbed the back of his head. "No, he's fine. See, there was a wiring problem with the Photon Cannon! A completely unexpected turn back!"

Prowl calmed down and went back to raising a single optic ridge. "You're point being...?"

"See this bundle?" Jazz asked, gesturing to said bundle that was still making noises.

Prowl only stared at it suspiciously. He then recoiled and inched away when Jazz stuffed it in his face. "By the AllSpark of Primus! What is that thing?!"

Jazz only chuckled at Prowl's reaction. "This, my friend, is our resident rich-bot crybaby, and I need to get him to the 'Hatchet before anyone realizes what happened. Wanna help?"

"Not really..." was Prowl's reply.

"Well, too bad," Jazz stated. He repositioned the whimpering Mirage back into his arms with the datapad, and then grabbed Prowl's hand with his free one. "We're going on a trip!"


	2. More Information Required

**Sparklings 1: Mirage**

**Chapter Two: More Information Required**

"What is that thing?!" (Brawn) (stare)

"Do we shoot it?" (Bluestreak) (stare and point)

"Can I shoot it?!" (Ironhide) (stare and aim gun)

"AHHH!! DECEPTICON SPY!!" (Red Alert) (glare suspiciously, optic fizzing out, and point)

"Shut up. I'm tired of all the yelling." (Gears) (passive stare)

"Um.. What do we do with that?" (Wheeljack) (look at guy next to him and point at it)

"Is it a target for target practice?" (Sunstreaker) (stare)

"Me Grimlock no like that thing!" (Grimlock) (grunt, glare and stomp)

"Me Swoop think it cute." (Swoop) (look at Grimlock)

"What is that thing, Bumblebee?" (Spike) (look up at Bumblebee)

"No idea, Spike..." (Bumblebee) (looking curiously at it)

"I find it rather fascinating, actually!" (Perceptor) (grinning)

"What is it, Ratchet?" (First Aid) (looking at Ratchet)

"Jazz? Weren't you supposed to be...looking for Mirage?" (Hound) (look at Jazz and the thing)

"O-Optimus? That thing is scary..." (Sideswipe) (looking at Optimus)

Jazz rubbed his temples with his free hand while he held the energon-consuming sparkling in the other. He was currently sitting on the recharge berth that Ratchet had forced him on the moment he had stuffed the little Mirage in his face, saying, "Look who I found, Doc! Can you help him?" He helped alright. He pulled scans up, acknowledged that everything was okay, except for the amount of energon in his systems, and then called up Optimus. After that, he stuffed a cube in Mirage's face. It was amazing how much Mirage had eaten since that first cube, despite his small size and usually small appetite. Ratchet had stayed quiet during the whole thing. He was busy cleaning up the cubes and getting new ones since Mirage was right now a bottomless pit. Optimus was standing aside, next to Prowl. Prowl and him were standing by Jazz.

Prowl growled. (Ha, ha!) "He's not a Decepticon Spy, Red Alert... This, everyone, is Mirage."

Everyone else relaxed. Cliffjumper, Red Alert, Grimlock, Brawn and Sunstreaker remained unconvinced. Perceptor approached Jazz, and looked at the little sparkling consuming energon.

"Where's his torpedo launcher?" he asked, now also suspicious.

"I removed it," Ratchet huffed. "Didn't exactly want a miniature torpedo stabbing anyone on accident whenever the little thing coughed."

Perceptor nodded, satisfied.

Mirage, too, was satisfied. He held up the now three-quarters empty energon cube, showing it to Jazz. He squealed and clicked when Jazz looked down, and took the energon cube.

"Ratch? He's done," Jazz announced.

"Thank Primus! Thought he was never going to finish," Ratchet once more huffed, as he put away the full cubes, took the one from Jazz, and readied the empty ones to be filled once more. "I blame that four week famine! Why did he do that...?" As he huffed, puffed, and complained about head-strong rich-bots, Mirage clicked at Jazz, and then looked at Prowl. He clicked at him, and then looked at Hound. He clicked at him as well. After all that, he cuddled up, and fell asleep.

If Jazz could blink, he would have. "What was that all about?"

"Despite who they grow up to be, Sparklings are sociable. I suspect that even Mirage was," Ratchet explained. "But don't look for me for a translator as to what he just said. Wheeljack's the expert."

"I am?" came the intelligent reply.

"Why yes... remember when Bumblebee was younger?" Ratchet asked, as he did a couple more scans on Mirage to ensure he was okay.

"Oh yeah... maybe I just forgot..."

"Right," Ratchet stated plainly. "Maybe you did."

Prowl looked at Ratchet expectantly. "How long will it last?"

Ratchet's reply came slowly. First, he quizzically looked at the tactician, as if the thought just came to him. Then he looked at Jazz who was holding the thing in question. Quickly, he did another scan, and then looked back at Prowl. Ratchet then looked at the datapad in his hands that held the information on what had happened to Mirage. He coughed when he read the answer to Prowl's question.

"You're not going to like it... it says either it's going to last at least two months to five, or it could be... a... could be a... permanent change."

Shock was raised in all the Autobots currently in the ark that were now in the Med Bay. Sunstreaker, Sideswipe and Perceptor froze up and collapsed backwards. Hound cried. Red Alert pointed at the thing in question and laughed at it. Cliffjumper did as well. Bumblebee sat down in despair, as Spike approached him and tried to comfort him. Ironhide, Bluestreak, Brawn, First Aid and Wheeljack all looked at Ratchet like he had suddenly turned into a Decepticon and shot the Prime. Optimus looked like he had just been shot by an Autobot turned Decepticon. Prowl and Jazz nearly spark-attacked, and Grimlock and Swoop had no idea how to feel about the current situation. Everyone else, except Prowl, Ratchet, Grimlock, Swoop, Red Alert, Cliffjumper and Jazz, fell over into forced recharge. Spike looked around in shock.

"My gosh! What just happened?" he asked,

"Great," Ratchet grumbled. "I forced nearly the entire sane part of the Autobot army into recharge with a single word. That's got to be a record."

Prowl and Jazz looked at him with weird looks. Red Alert and Cliffjumper stopped laughing and blinked at Ratchet. Grimlock and Swoop looked at each other and shrugged. They left the room, the fun having ended. Mirage woke up from all the racket, and began to cry. VERY LOUDLY.

"GREAT!!" Ratchet yelled, as everyone still awake covered their ears. "THEY WOKE THE SPARKLING!! REMIND ME TO WELD THEM TO RECHARGE BERTHS LATER!!"

"NO PROBLEM!!" Jazz replied. "I'LL HELP YAH GLADLY!!"

- - - -

In a base not too far away from the Autobots, lied the Decepticons. Megatron sat diligently on his throne, watching his men gamble away their energon in a game of poker. In fact, Thundercracker just won the whole bunch in the middle... "Ha! I win!"

Skywarp saw otherwise. He layed down his hand, and Thundercracker had a look of disbelief on his optics. "No, I win!"

Suddenly, a faint, shrill cry erupted, clearly from far away. Starscream stopped from what he was doing; fixing his photon cannon.

"What is that?" Megatron asked, quizzically.

"QUERY: UNKNOWN," Soundwave answered. "RAVAGE, EJECT. LASERBEAK, EJECT. OPERATION: RECON."

From his chest, two cassette tapes ejected, and transformed. One, into a dog like robotic creature with scary red optics. The second transformed into a bird like robot, with red wings, and complete with a beak-like structure erupting from its face. The two raced off out of the base, and headed to the Autobot one.

Before Megatron even had the chance to glare at him, Starscream ducked out of the room, and raced for cover. The lesser Megatron knew about the whole situation in the Autobot base, the better.


	3. Decisions

**Sparklings 1: Mirage**

**Chapter Three: Decisions**

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Jazz as soon as he heard the news. "I am NOT looking after him!"

Ratchet sneered... evilly. He picked up the clicking Mirage (currently talking to a collar put around his neck) and dropped him in Jazz's arms. "You said yourself it was your fault he got caught in the fire of that photon cannon!"

"No it isn't! Well... maybe it was... it was my fault he left... but still! Why can't Hound look after him?!" Jazz argued, thought, then argued again.

Ratchet sighed. Quickly thinking, he turned to the door. "HOUND!! GET IN HERE!!"

Almost _too _quickly, the door opened and Hound rushed in. "Yes, Ratchet? Didn't I have my check up..."

Before he could finish, Ratchet took the little Mirage from Jazz's hands, and stuffed the little happily clicking-to-a-collar-around-his-neck Mirage in his face. To Jazz, this obviously happened before. Hound didn't even flinch when Mirage stopped clicking, looked up, scrunched up his face, optics starting to leak, began to whimper, and cried.

"WAHHH!! WAHHHH! WAHHHH! WAHHHHHHHHH!!"

Ratchet chuckled as he kept Mirage there, evilly. "Apparently, as a Sparkling, Mirage has an intense phobia of Hound."

Jazz winced when Mirage's cries intensified. "Why?!"

"Don't know, and frankly, don't really care yet. Right now, my job is make sure Mirage stays safe," Ratchet replied. He held Mirage close to himself as he turned around and returned the crying child to Jazz. "Also right now, you're the only one he remembers, likes, and well actually be quiet around."

Almost instantly, since Jazz's face came into his vision, Mirage had stopped crying.

"See?" Ratchet evilly added. Jazz worriedly began thinking of other options.

"Uh... Cliffjumper?"

"Mirage hated the guy. What's going to change now?"

"Yeah... Forgot. Bluestreak?"

"All he's been asking is if he can shoot the poor thing."

"Typical... Grimlock?"

"YOU DID NOT JUST SUGGEST HIM!!"

"Uh... No? ... ... ... How about Ironhide?"

"Don't even go there. Although, just to make sure you don't ask him again, he's been asking the same question as Bluestreak."

"No surprise there, really... ... ... ... ... Optimus?"

"Okay! No! Seriously! Take your fate like a mech and deal with it!" Ratchet yelled. "You're the only one in the ENTIRE base that he's not afraid of right now!"

"... I am?" Jazz asked. He looked at Mirage, as if looking for an answer.

Mirage burped.

"Yep. So, deal with it!"

Jazz groaned as Ratchet took Hound aside to talk to for a little bit. He looked at Mirage, playing with the detector collar around his neck. Jazz figured Ratchet put it there so that Red Alert could find him easily. Jazz sighed. "Guess you're stuck with me and Prowl, little 'Raj."

"Eh?" Mirage squeaked, as he looked at Jazz, which probably meant, "Who the hell are you and who's this Prowl mech?"

Jazz just laughed.

- - - -

Starscream groaned as he took the mop and placed it in the bucket of water. As soon as he had sucked the mop desirably, he took the mop out, and slammed the mop against the floor, swishing it about in order to soak the floor, getting rid of the dirt. This was low. It was low, even for Megatron.

"_As punishment against your Photon Cannon not... desirably destroying Autobot Mirage... your punishment is mopping all 72 floors of this base."_

"_You MUST be joking!! Skywarp did the wiring!!"_

"_Yes... but you fired it."_

"_ARGHH! Megatron, you're hopeless!" _

"Making me wash floors... HA! I'll show him when I take command of this outfit..." Starscream muttered, as he washed away a tire track most likely from one of the Constructicons.

"Uh... you okay??" asked a voice.

Starscream turned around worriedly. There, standing in front of him was Rumble.

"Yeah. I should be fine... once that fragger of a leader is done for."

"Sure... Like that's EVER going to happen, but sure..." Rumble replied, and then he walked away.

Starscream, now paranoid, insanely held the mop close to himself. "I'm being stalked..." he whispered to himself.

- - - -

"No."

Jazz sighed . He figured his mate would deny the idea of the Sparkling Mirage staying with them until this nightmare was over. "Prowl... he cries around everyone else but me! Ratchet doesn't want the poor guy to get terrified."

"I said no."

"Don't make me get Prime, Prowl!" Jazz menacingly said, not wanting to deal with this right now. Mirage, enjoying this, giggled.

Prowl hid his face in his hand. "I'm... not going through with this. I don't like Sparklings, whether they used to be our best spy or not! Right now, he's still a Sparkling."

Jazz stared at Prowl suspiciously. "Hey, wait a second... don't you have one?"

"That's different. Leave her out of this."

"Right... Please?"

"No."

"Come on! Ratchet said either he's staying with us, or Red Alert will toss him in the brig, or Ironhide will have to look after him, or worse! The twins will get a hold of him, and leave him outside in the cold and the rain! The snow will come down, and the poor guy will freeze up and starve -."

"Jazz?" Prowl looked up with an arched optic ridge. "It's going to be clear for a whole month."

"Still. What would you rather have? This cute, little guy having to be looked up in the brig for five months, until it's proven he's really Mirage," at this, Jazz held up the little Sparkling in the air, the but end of the child facing Prowl. Mirage was busy picking his nose. "Or... him having to be looked after by Ironhide? I don't think he deserves that!"

Prowl sighed as Jazz moved Mirage down a bit so the little Sparkling had to look up to see him. Mirage took his finger out of his nose and stuffed it in his mouth, sucking on it. Prowl recoiled.

Jazz chuckled. "Well, on the bright side, we can teach the little guy manners!"

"All over again? Jazz, that thing can't be Mirage! He just picked his nose and stuck the exact same digit in his mouth once he was done!" Prowl pointed at the child dejectedly.

"Prowl," Jazz said plainly, so plainly that it scared Prowl a little and Mirage looked up at him, now messing with his collar again. "He doesn't know any better right now. Maybe he does know what he's doing... but it's instinct to the body."

"Who the pit told you that?"

"Ratchet. He ran a full scale scan, still trying to figure out if it's still Mirage in there, and we haven't lost him forever," Jazz answered, now sadly looking down on the once-spy that was chewing on his foot. Absentmindedly, Jazz took one hand and pulled the foot out. "Stop that."

"Eh!" Mirage answered, swatting away his hand.

"Bad."

"Eh!"

"No."

"Eh!"

"Mirage, stop it."

"Eh?" Mirage cocked his head at the sound of his name. Both Prowl and Jazz looked down worriedly.

"He doesn't know his own name...?" Prowl asked.

Jazz bit his lip. "Well... he's only been around for a few hours, now, right?"

Mirage looked back and forth, and sneezed, putting in his own input into the conversation. Prowl sighed.

"Okay, fine... I'll let him in the recharge room... but he stays off my side."

"You're a softie, Prowl," Jazz offered, laughing a little as he walked into the room and set Mirage to the floor. "Now... don't you have somewhere to be? I do, too... but I don't want to leave the little guy all alone here... and Prime won't let him in the Rec Room yet. He still cries whenever he sees Sideswipe, Cliffjumper, Perceptor.. Any of them. He ESPECIALLY cries at Sideswipe, Cliffjumper and Hound, that's it's freaking hilarious..." Jazz chuckled at the memory of Mirage SCREECHING when Ratchet had stuffed the little guy in Hound's face to prove the point.

"I can only imagine," Prowl dead panned. "I'll allow him in a PEN in my office if that's what you mean, Jazz. I'll get one set up and then you can drop him off when you have to go. But, that's not until tomorrow. It's late."

"Yeah. I know," Jazz said, yawning. He looked down on Mirage, who was nodding off. Prowl walked up, picked up Mirage, and then handed him to Jazz before he had a chance to cry.

The two older mechs then layed down on their single, double sized recharge berth, and fell asleep, Mirage curled up in a little ball in Jazz's arms.

If one were to walk in at that moment, they would have thought it was the cutest scene in the history of the Ark. ... That is, if they have any SENSE on what cute was... (Cliffjumper, Red Alert and Grimlock just to name a few...)


	4. A Day With Prowl

**Sparklings 1: Mirage**

**Chapter Four: A Day With Prowl**

Prowl groaned the moment Jazz walked through that door and showed him the happy Mirage. He grimaced as he realized the Sparkling was chewing and sucking on something that he suspected came from Wheeljack.

"Jazz? What is he chewing on?" he asked.

"Huh?" Jazz looked at the Sparkling and the Sparkling just sucked on it in reply. "You know what...? I really don't know. I ran into Perceptor... and then into Wheeljack... and somewhere in between there... he began sucking on that thing. I seriously don't know where he got it from..."

"Maybe you should REMOVE it. He could get sick."

Jazz did. Mirage sneezed, sniffled and smiled. "And he's okay with it! Maybe he didn't like it..."

Jazz set the Sparkling in the pen Ratchet had set up. "Well, he hasn't eaten yet, so you'll have to feed him! Also, he likes to be held. Another thing, TALK to him. He loves it."

Prowl groaned. "He's nothing like Axann was..."

"Prowl, Axann was a danger to society as a Sparkling. Mirage is a harmless spy with a giant torpedo launcher. Axann grew up to be a Robo-Ninja running around with a medic tearing mechs' parts out as he walks by them. Moral of the story?" Jazz stated plainly.

"Femmes are torture?" Prowl guessed, as he looked Mirage who was babbling to the collar around his neck.

"That works..." Jazz agreed. "Well! I'm off to control room duty." He waved at Mirage sweetly before leaving. "See you two when I get off!"

Prowl waved before returning to his paperwork. Mirage waved too, just mimicking, really.. But waved nonetheless. He babbled a little before resulting in sucking his hand briefly and then trying to figure a way out of the pen. When none of that worked, he looked up to see Prowl.

"Eh!" He squeaked, which probably meant something along the lines of, "Hey! You're the jerk that Jazz left me with, right?! Well, get me the hell out of here!"

Prowl looked down to see Mirage attacking the walls of the pen, repeating, "EH! EH! EH!"

"Nice try, Mirage," Prowl replied. Mirage stopped mid attack and his optics blinked. "That pen was specially designed for you. You're going nowhere."

Mirage sat down. His tanks churned a little, and he looked around. He was hungry! Didn't this guy know he was hungry? His tanks churned again, and he began to sniffle.

Prowl looked down again, and remembered that neither of them had eaten anything yet. Deciding to care for Mirage first, he called in Ratchet to look after him briefly while he got some energon. After Ratchet showed up, Prowl left, and headed for the rec room.

After separating the twins, getting Cliffjumper to shut up, and asking Ironhide about the recent reports, he headed back to his office to feed Mirage and relieve Ratchet of his torture.

What he found wasn't something he expected. Ratchet was playing a game with Mirage when he showed up.

"Ratchet?"

Ratchet looked up, and chuckled. "I'm not as spark-less as some mechs and femmes claim me to be, Prowl."

Apparently, Prowl was convinced. "Well... I'll let you get back to the med bay..." Prowl walked up to Mirage, who was excited to see him. He handed the cube to the Sparkling before turning back to the medic.

The medic looked at Prowl with sad optics. "It's upsetting to see him like this, Prowl. Only yesterday, he was that snobbish, rich mech that didn't give a frag about the rest of us. Now, look at him..."

In response, Prowl looked at Mirage, who was happily consuming the energon cube he had been given. Ratchet looked at the Sparkling as well.

"He... remembers me a little," Ratchet admitted. "When I walked in, and you left, he looked at me with a big grin on his face, asking to be picked up. But... I know he doesn't remember me as much as he remembers Jazz. Ironhide came in... and I think it's safe to say he's TERRIFIED of the mech."

Prowl chuckled a little. Mirage finished consuming and then held the empty cube up to Ratchet and Prowl. Ratchet took the cube away and smiled.

"You're a hungry little mech, aren't you?" he playfully said, as he tickled the Sparkling. Mirage squeaked and clicked.

"Do you think it has something to do with the... four week famine he had going on before this all happened?" Prowl suggested, as Ratchet continued playing with the Sparkling.

"Maybe," Ratchet replied, as he picked up Mirage and handed him to Prowl. "I'm off now. Just got a message from First Aid... one word. Twins."

Prowl smirked. "Need help?"

"Nah. First Aid does," Ratchet laughed. He left.

Mirage clicked in confusion as he looked up at Prowl. Prowl looked down and held the Sparkling up high in order to make optic contact with him. "Heh, heh... well, into the pen you go, Sparkling..."

- - - -

"So, he remembers the Hatchet a little, huh?" Jazz concluded that night.

"Yes," Prowl answered, as he set the now snoozing Mirage down on the recharge berth.

Jazz rubbed his hand against his chin like a detective. "I wonder who else he remembers..."

Prowl groaned. "Jazz, if you even TRY to walk around with Mirage and stuffing him in random mechs' faces, you're doomed. Both me AND Ratchet will chase you down. That can be assured."

"Right... never mind."

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Prowl looked at the beeping thing. "Who's calling at this hour?"

As soon as he replied, he was greeted with the face of his daughter, Axaan. She had a bumpy head on the top, a long visor, and little horns on her shoulders. She had rearview mirrors posing as a set of ears as well. She was black with magenta accents. Behind her was that 'medic that tore things out of people'. He was pure white, and resembled a chibi Ratchet.

"Hey, dad...s," Axann stuttered, as she realized Jazz was in the room, too.

"Hello, Axann. We weren't expecting you to call.

"E.R. suggested that you might be able to help us with something. We're chasing down a delinquent that thinks he's funny," Axann explained. Her and E.R. worked in a police sort of department of the AutoBot army. They chased down rogues that gave the army trouble. At times, they could also be asked to help with battles.

Prowl nodded, and took his laptop out of its container as he got ready to aid his daughter. "Name?"

"Uller," replied E.R., as he looked behind him, glaring at someone messing with the controls.

"Alright... Uller search..." Prowl typed in the commands, and instantly saw where the mech had last been spotted. "Uller was last seen just one star system away from us."

"Sweet!" exclaimed one voice around them.

"That means we can visit!" stated a femme that walked right by them carrying a datapad.

Jazz hesitated as he eyed the baby mech on the recharge berth. "Uh... Prowler, stall!"

"What?" Axann seemed a little confused as she turned from E.R. glaring at someone to looking at her father..s.

"We have a little bit of situation going on here, Axann... now may not be a good time..." Prowl looked at Jazz worriedly. "You see... we had a little bit of an accident with a photon cannon... and the result was not instant death, before you ask, E.R.!"

E.R. had flinched and automatically turned to them in shock.

"B-But... A photon cannon..."

"We know!" Jazz stated, as he picked up Mirage and looked at them, making sure they wouldn't see him. "But look at the end result... your daddy and me are stuck raising a much better behaved version of yah, Axann!"

If Axann could blink, she would have... twice, if she wasn't wearing a visor. She looked at Jazz and frowned. "You two have a bonding moment or something?"

E.R. instantly cracked up.

"Axann, that was strictly inappropriate on your part!" Prowl stated, sternly.

Axann shrugged. "So... who was it?"

Jazz moved so that Mirage was in view of the camera. If E.R. and Axann's optics were visible through their respective visors, they would have widened.

"Oh... Primus..."

"Is that... Mirage?"

Prowl and Jazz now knew they had a lot of explaining to do.


	5. Reinforcements

_Just a quick announcement before the start of this rather short chapter! In order to chose whether or not Mirage should stay as a Sparkling and grow up again, I have posted a poll in my profile. Also, try out **One Thing Left **by **Autobot Axann**! This story is now dedicated to her for allowing me to use Axann, E.R., and Reviver for this story. Thank you **Autobot Axann**!_

_Now, the chapter starts!_

* * *

**Sparklings 1: Mirage**

**Chapter Five: Reinforcements **

The ship landed not too far from the base. When they had landed, Optimus filled the entire crew in on the situation. Shortly after hearing the story, rest assured, Axann had grabbed E.R. by the neck brace, and dragged him through three hallways to Prowl and Jazz's room, where she knocked on the door.

"I'm still surprised you know your way around here, Axann," E.R. stated, as he looked around curiously. "I'm already lost... and I grew up here."

"Yeah? Well, so did I!" Axann argued.

Prowl answered the door. Instantly, his optics widened. "What are...?"

"We've come to see my former baby-sitter?" Axann stated, half as a question.

Prowl let them in.

E.R. instantly crouched down to the sparkling's level. Currently, Mirage had been playing a game on the floor with some of Axann's old toys. She curiously watched him try to figure out a puzzle.

"Do you understand what happened?" E.R. asked, as Mirage showed him a piece of the puzzle.

Jazz walked in then. "Yeah... slightly. Starscream had a new toy, fired it, Mirage got in the way, and by some stroke of luck, there had been a malfunction to begin with."

Axann snorted. "Makes you wonder who wired the thing."

Prowl snarled. "Yeah, but the problem is, is that this could be a permanent damage, and Mirage would basically have to grow up and learn _everything_ all over again."

"Second chance," E.R. offered.

"Basically."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Axann asked, cocking her bumpy head to the right. "I mean, this gives the entire Ark crew to teach Mirage things they would have liked him knowing. No one really liked him, right?"

Jazz sighed. "Yeah... but I did! Hound and I were close friends with Mirage. And, that wouldn't be fair, doing that to him." He looked at the innocent little sparkling trying to coax E.R. into doing his frustrating puzzle for him.

E.R. looked down when a puzzle piece hit his head. "Okay, fine, I'll help you!" He knelt down as he picked up the piece, and put it in its spot. "It goes there, 'Raj."

Prowl looked at his daughter. "We still don't know how long he's going to be like this. It's frustrating Ratchet to see him like this."

Axann sighed. "I can only imagine. Ratchet was his family doctor, right? And after that... incident... Ratchet became his guardian."

"Right," Prowl acknowledged. He then smirked. "You're really you're mother's daughter, alright. She'd be happy to see you now."

Axann sadly smiled. "Hey... I thought I was a 'danger to society' as a sparkling. I think I liked that one best."

E.R. snorted as he helped Mirage with his puzzle. "That's an understatement, Axann. You were practically a danger to Megatron himself."

At this, Axann laughed.

- - - -

Starscream sighed. He picked up the feather duster, and cleaned off Megatron's desk. His attempt at the photon cannon had failed again. Now, there was a huge gaping hole on the side of the command centre that the casseticons were working on.

His punishment this time? Dusting the furniture in all 346 rooms of the base.

"Primus..." Starscream grumbled. "What do we need 346 rooms for anyway? It's not like we have THAT many rooms, right...?"

He blinked. Twice. He looked around the room awkwardly. "Okay, now I KNOW I'm being watched by someone."

- - - -

Axann and E.R., after meeting up with Prowl and Jazz about Mirage, were now following the three to Ratchet's med bay. Axann sighed, bored.

"So... why are we heading to the med bay, Dad?" she asked.

"Because. I really want to know how long I have to deal with this," Prowl answered, looking at the babbling Sparkling in Jazz's arms.

E.R. chuckled. "But Prowl... it is like you said... you're dealing with a much better behaved sparkling than the first time. Do you really want to just toss this chance away because you're now an old mech?"

Jazz laughed. "You know, Prowler, he's got a point!"

Prowl just grumbled under his breath.

- - - -

Ratchet sighed as he watched Prowl, Jazz, Mirage, Axann and E.R. enter the room. He did not want to see E.R. right now. They had issues with each other. BIG ones. One of which, was named Reviver.

When E.R. saw Ratchet, he nearly walked out. He could have permanently if Axann hadn't grabbed the back windshield that resembled a human collar around his neck.

"You're going nowhere, Medic," she growled. "We've already arrested Uller, and we have no more missions. We came here to help with Mirage!"

E.R. sighed. "You can't be serious! Unlike you, I have issues with my father!"


	6. A Bit of a Back Story

_Okay, this chapter, you hear E.R.'s story. To hear Axann's, see __**One Thing Left**__. It should be getting updated next week in the earliest._

* * *

**Sparklings 1: Mirage**

**Chapter Six: A Bit of a Back Story**

**ONE WEEK LATER:**

"No."

Prowl sighed as he stared at Cliffjumper. "You're the only one available."

"I am NOT looking after Mirage."

"Cliffjumper, you're the only one available!" Prowl argued.

Cliffjumper growled at Prowl. "So's Prime! And Ratchet! Oh, and how about this, Swoop and Grimlock! Plus, Bumblebee's free!"

"Prime is busy working with paperwork. If Mirage needed something, Prime wouldn't be able to spare time. Ratchet's had enough of the kid. Swoop and Grimlock can't be trusted. Also, Bumblebee is out with Spike."

"Axann and E.R.?"

Prowl paused. He hadn't thought about the two younglings. He knew from experience Axann was good with kids, despite being a disaster warning. E.R. was a medic in training. He'd be able to take of Mirage if anything happened to him. However, he also knew that E.R. had been avoiding Ratchet as much as he could. And, wherever E.R. went, Axann wouldn't be too far behind. Ah, the joy of the bond between creator and creation... He looked at Cliffjumper, the minicon practically on his knees, begging not to be stuck with the current Spy-turned-Sparkling. Said Sparkling was sitting on the ground nearby, trying out a new puzzle.

The tactician sighed. "Fine. You're off the hook THIS time, Cliffjumper. I'll leave him with Axann and E.R.. BUT, the next time there's no one available BUT you, YOU are getting the job."

Cliffjumper cheered as he raced out of the room. Prowl sighed again as he looked at Mirage, who clicked at him in question.

"I hate that guy," Prowl told the Sparkling.

Mirage chirped in reply.

- - - -

"Uh... what?" E.R. and Axann looked at Prowl in astonishment outside of the base. "We're stuck with him?"

Prowl nodded as he stuffed Mirage in their faces. Mirage chirped, blinked his golden optics, and looked at Axann and E.R. with the biggest grin on his face. E.R. and Axann just looked at him like they hadn't seen him before.

Axann's father smirked. "Oh... look. He remembers you."

Axann looked at Prowl with a frown. "You sound evil."

"Right now, I am. I have no one else to watch him, and Jazz and I have recon in less than five human minutes. You two are the only ones doing nothing that can look after him." Prowl glared at the two.

Both shivered from underneath his deathly gaze. It was very scary. Unlike Jazz, Prowl's optics were every bit visible.

Axann and E.R. nodded vigorously.

"Okay!" Axann chirped.

"We'll watch him!" E.R. agreed.

"Thank you."

At that, Mirage was handed to Axann, and the police car tactician walked off.

"Eh!" stated Mirage. This probably meant, "Well! I'm going to have fun TORTURING you two!"

E.R. and Axann worriedly looked at each other.

- - - -

Surprisingly enough, Mirage was very good with E.R. and Axann. As he got ready for recharge, he looked up at E.R. who had just knelt down to optic-to-visor level.

"Well, Mirage, looks like you need a rest," E.R. stated the obvious. He picked up the Sparkling and walked to Prowl and Jazz's recharge berth.

"Eh..." Mirage whined.

E.R. sighed as he layed Mirage down. "Okay. So you don't want to recharge... oh! How about a story, Mirage?"

Mirage smiled tiredly.

"Okay... um... once upon a time, there were two medics. One was named Ra... Hatchet. The other, was named Survivor. The two were once very good friends, maybe even lovers," E.R. told. Mirage clicked questionably at the names. "Hatchet and Survivor had a small mech. His name was E.R.."

"Eh!" Mirage squeaked, pointing to E.R..

E.R. smiled. "Yes, me. Well, after E.R. was born, problems began to arise in the Autobot Army, as Megatron began getting more powerful. This was causing all able-bodied Sparklings and Younglings that were born Autobots to train to become soldiers for the army. Survivor wanted E.R. to train to become a soldier, to go out in the battles. But Hatchet wouldn't hear a word a word of it. E.R. didn't want to be a soldier. He wanted to become a Medic, just like his parents. Hatchet didn't want E.R. to be in the war at all. But E.R. refused his father's words and became a Medic anyways."

"Ehh?" Mirage asked.

Although E.R. didn't know what Mirage asked, he decided to answer his own question. "Survivor got angry, and left the two. She joined a different team of Autobot, and flew through space, very far away. Hatchet purposely had E.R. moved to a different team as well. E.R. went very far away. But, he gained new friends, so it was all okay in the end. The end."

Mirage yawned and turned off his optics, happy that he had a story. Soon after, the little Sparkling was fast asleep. E.R. looked up at the sound of feet to see Prowl, Jazz and Axann looking at him curiously.

"Interesting story, Exertion," Jazz voiced.

E.R. ("Exertion") growled. "Don't call me that, Jazz. I gave up that name a long time ago."

He got up and walked out of the room. Axann glared at Jazz. "You of all mechs should have known that."

Prowl stepped back.

Jazz chuckled nervously. "It's his name! Aren't names self-explanatory? I like music. Prowl's a stalker of Decepticons. Ratchet likes ratchets. Cliffjumper jumps cliffs. Ironhide has a an iron hide. You are delicate like a flower, but dangerous as venom. Like the Axannion flower of Iacon. It may be delicate, but the venom is deadly! Exertion pushes himself to his limits to give his all."

Axann smirked. "Maybe, but 'Exertion' no longer uses his name. Now, he uses E.R.. He changed his name the day Ratchet tossed him a pass to join our ship. He claimed it was because 'E.R.' sounded more 'medically accurate'. I think he did it to distance himself from his parents."

At that, she raced out of the room to chase down her friend. Prowl sighed as he looked at Jazz.

"I thought she was going to hammer you to nothing but little chips, and sell them to Ratchet and Reviver," he confessed.

Jazz chuckled. "For a second there, I thought so, too!"

Mirage stirred. Both mechs froze like a refrigerator (ha, ha!) and turned to him. After that, he snored. Prowl and Jazz sighed in relief.

"By the way, why is Reviver called Survivor?" Jazz asked after a long silence.

Prowl smirked. "Because she's seen, and survived everything. Including merging with Ratchet."

At this, the two left the room, and Jazz began howling with laughter that it was a miracle that Mirage didn't wake up.


End file.
